Thursday, September 29, 2011

Real Nasty

It's a three things thursday!

Real


Bib numbers are up for Ironman Florida. I got number 1231. I'm also the only Flynn registered, and you can search IronmanLive.com athlete tracker by last name or bib number. So that does make it seem very real. It's coming up in just a few more weeks. Wow.

Nasty

Everything I own is completely disgusting right now. The house is trashed, my bike is filthy, and my car stinks. Every minute of every day is completely consumed by work, working out, kids, eating and sleeping. I've got two big work deadlines coming up tomorrow so it's very stressful.

Yesterday I ran 9 miles over lunch in 1:10:43, a nice 7:5x pace. Then I hit the stationary bike for 21 miles after dinner, and still billed 10 hours at work. How did I get all of this done without collapsing? Kelley took the kids to the NC zoo for the day. They had a blast.

Now that I'm working from home all the time, the only place I ever drive is to the gym. It's right across the street from my house. We don't have a garage now, so the car sits outside all the time, this means I can't leave the windows down. Yesterday, for example, my easy 9 mile run still burned over 1200 calories. I was sweating buckets, and I greatly prefer to shower at home since it's right across the street. So I sit down in the car and the cloth seats soak in gallons of sweat over the 400 meter drive back home. I can't leave the windows down at home because we don't have a garage and it rains a lot here. So there is a ton of nasty sweat soaked into my seats and it's just trapped in there to fester and stink. On the plus side, I only have to put gas in my car an average of once a month.

I'm not a smelly guy. I am a pretty heavy sweater just in terms of volume, but I don't have constant BO problems like the southern redneck stereotype would imply. But I can only febreze bomb the car so many times before it can't be helped anymore. My shoes are in just as bad a shape. I can feel sweat pooling in the bottom of my shoes towards the end of these runs. It gets slippery in there. The shoes dry out and stink like you wouldn't believe. Febreze bomb can only help for so long.

I used to just toss the workout clothes onto the pile of dirty laundry. The sweat got so heavy that it actually molded some of the kids clothes, so I started hanging them up to dry before throwing them into the pile. Now the sweat drips down onto the tile floor and puddles up while I'm taking a shower after the workout. The kids complain about the puddles, but secretly I still think they want to splash in them. I have literally wrung half a cup of sweat out of my shirts before. Now it makes the entire bathroom stink.

Completely disgusting and there's nothing I can do about it. argh.

What do you mean TMI? I've never been accused of that before.

Indian Princesses

The YMCA has a program called Y-Guides and Princesses with a native american theme - it kind of rivals the girl scouts and boy scouts. I'm an eagle scout so I really wanted my kids to be able to get into some kind of scout-like activity, but I wanted to be involved. The Indian Princess program in Raleigh is the biggest program in the country. There are 14,000 kids involved here compared to only a few hundred in girl scouts. This is all about dads and daughters, and I absolutely love it. The program only runs from first through third grade, so Bigun is starting this year. We've already had two dad's only meetings, and I really like the other dad's in my tribe. Really cool guys. Monday is the first meeting with the kids. Bigun is so excited about going camping and making new friends, and getting the whole bonding thing going. It's going to be awesome!

At the same time, this is how it starts. At least I'm heavily involved in the program, not just dropping them off at dance practice or something. Before you know it, we are going to turn into full time drivers dropping one off at piano lessons and the other off somewhere else just in time to run them more places. oh, they grow up to fast.

12 comments:

Katie said...

ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Alecia@tincantreader said...

You certainly do perspire. I'm more stink than sweat.

That princess thing sounds pretty cool. It's also kind of funny to hear you talk about your "tribe".

Karen said...

Your house sounds a little like mine right now (minus the sweat dripping everywhere..). That is some serious sweating going on if it is dripping on the floor even after you hang it up.

The indian princess thing sounds fun. Glad you are able to take part in it. Very cool!

Kelley said...

Of all of the things that I had prepared myself for with your IM training, the long hours of training, having to cook specials things for you, you being tired all the time, etc. The thing that I did not see coming was the smell of IM training. Every time I open the bathroom door the cloths hanging on the back of the door woft in front of my face and the smell nearly knocks me down. And your car...holy crap...dude, cloth seats are out for you from now on. I think you should just add in the run from home to gym into your milage and leave the car out of it.

I can't wait to see you cross that IM finish line, I will be so proud of you. And I will also be very happy for the IM training smell to come to an end :)

BrianFlash said...

Why the heck are you driving to the gym?! A quarter mile from the house - sounds like that isn't even long enough for a little warm up. :)

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

Funny. TMI - Yes! BUT, this is something we have all experienced in some way or other. I usually hang my clothes up to dry before putting them in the hamper.

When I was in FL, I played soccer and I had the same problem with the humidity. If I left my cleats outside, they got even wetter and stinkier, but bringing them in makes it smell inside!

Can you walk to the gym?

Sophie @ threetimesf said...

Haha, you sell the prospect of a ride in your car as such a pleasurable experience John! Could you walk to the gym?

That programme sounds great - I regret not getting to spend as much time as I wanted to with my Dad growing up - Bigun's lucky to have you :)

Diana said...

Disgusting yes, yet I love reading about someone getting ready for an IM race. It's amazing to read about the intense training.
I had to wonder as I read also about why you are driving to the gym....even an IM in training needs a rest!

Unknown said...

Good luck at IMFL! 1231 seems like a good number.

My husband is a sweat monster also and sometimes his car stinks something awful. I feel your pain!

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

I always hang my work out clothes on my hamper so they can dry before throwing them in because otherwise I feel like they will be even grosser when I do wash them!!!

Sarah said...

Oh man, I used to just hate the nasty bike bottles in the sink. All.the.time. Yuck. Maybe after IM you can treat yourself to a nice detail?

You are rocking it. I'm reading, if not quietly. Am stoked for you..it's coming up fast!

Anonymous said...

I was in Indian Princesses with my dad back when I was in first grade. It was so much fun!!! I absolutely loved it. It's still the only time I've ever gotten to ride a horse, among many many other awesome things. You and your daughter are going to love it! My tribe was the "mighty mighty" Navajos. I still remember our jingle :)